An elderly Jewish man has died from injuries allegedly inflicted by a pro-Palestinian demonstrator, at a pro-Israel rally in Los Angeles on Monday, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed.
According to eyewitnesses, a confrontation developed between the suspect and 69-year-old Paul Kessler, who was then found on the ground bleeding, with some saying that he fell and hit his head. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead from a cerebral hemorrhage.
“We are devastated to learn of the tragic death of an elderly Jewish man who was struck in the head by a megaphone wielded by a pro-Palestinian protestor in Westlake Village,” the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles said in a statement. “Our hearts are with the family of the victim.
“While we wait for more information from our law enforcement partners, we remind you that this is the fourth major antisemitic crime committed in Los Angeles this year alone,” the federation continued. “Violence against our people has no place in civilized society. We demand safety. We will not tolerate violence against our community. We will do everything in our power to prevent it.”
The incident was caught on film by locals and shared with a warning of graphic content on X (formerly Twitter) by the NGO StopAntisemitism.
Content warning ⚠️ – an elderly Jewish man has been killed by a pro Palestinian protestor who hit him over the head with a megaphone at yesterday’s Israel rally.Sadly, the victim has passed away from internal bleeding.May his memory be a blessing and his attacker be… pic.twitter.com/41ZXNutwvK
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 7, 2023
Police have declined to provide further details and it is unknown if the suspect has been arrested.
Minister Benny Gantz heavily condemned the murder on Tuesday morning as an “urgent alert that must reverberate across the entire world.”
Gantz called on world leaders to sound a clear rejection of antisemitism and terror, writing on X that Hamas’s “murderous ideology… is not just Israel’s problem – and the world must unite against it and fight it.”
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